Black poplar (Populus nigra L.) is a keystone species of riparian softwood forests along riversides in vast areas of Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa. Since the end of the 20^thcentury, black poplar has been recognized as an endangered species throughout Europe due to the loss of its natural habitat and possible crossbreeding with hybrid poplars. Using twelve nuclear SSR loci, we analysed the genetic structure of four native populations from three river valleys in the northern part of Serbia. All tested loci were highly polymorphic, displaying 8 to 25 alleles per locus, overall 179 detected alleles and an average effective number of alleles 5.87. Observed heterozygosity (overall Ho = 0.703) has been lower than the expected (overallH_e= 0.808) in each population, which indicates positive mean of fixation index values (overallF_is> 0 (0.132)). An AMOVA analysis revealed that the highest degree of genetic variation occurred within populations (95.33 %) while the genetic variation between populations was really low (4.67 %). High gene flow and no significant loss of allelic diversity have been recorded in the studied populations in Serbia.

The genetic structure of black poplar (Populus nigra L.) populations in the area of Great War Island (GWI) was studied at the level of 30 genotypes, based on microsatellite molecular markers (SSR). Eleven polymorphic SSR loci were used for analysis of intarpopulation genetic variability. Observed and expected heterozygosity in studied population were high (0.70 and 0.82). The fixation index calculated for single locus ranged from -0.055 (PMGC_14) up to 0.424 (PMGC_2607), while the mean value was 0.143. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) differed between single loci. Stabile genetic structure and satisfactory level of genetic variability that have been determined at the population level represent a good starting point for conservation and sustainable use of the available gene pool and further breeding of this species.

Premise: Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed as a tool for genetic investigations of Filipendula vulgaris (Rosaceae) and related species.Methods and Results: Seventeen new polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for F. vulgaris using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Polymorphism of the 17 loci was tested in three populations. We identified a total of 203 alleles, ranging from four to 19 per locus, with levels of observed and expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.267 to 1.000 and 0.461 to 0.899, respectively. Primers were also tested for cross‐amplification in three related species. Seven loci successfully cross‐amplified in F. camtschatica and F. ulmaria, whereas we detected positive cross‐amplification in only three loci in Geum urbanum.Conclusions: The newly developed microsatellite primers will serve as useful genetic tools for further population genetic studies on F. vulgaris and related species.